Handtub Junction, USA
Handtub of the Month
October 1999
Gerry No. 5 - Marblehead, MA
The Gerry 5 (pronounced with a hard G) was the built for Marblehead, MA
by Hunneman & Co. of Boston, MA and delivered on July 1, 1845. The Hunneman serial
number is 267. The engine was named after Elbridge Gerry, a native of Marblehead, a signer
of the Declaration of Independence, and a delegate of the Constitutional Convention. He
refused to sign the Constitution
because it obligated the new federal government to assume the unpaid revolutionary war
debt of the states. He held a significant amount of that debt, and his belief that the new
government should not assume that debt made it less likely that he would collect what was
owed to him. He later became Governor of Massachusetts, and the fifth Vice President of
the United States. The political term gerrymander, constructing a legislative district to
favor the election of a person from a particular political party, resulted from his action
as Governor.
The Gerry engine company was the fifth fire company in the town, and the company
headquarters was located on State Street in a building which later housed the Spanish
American War Veterans Association and currently is an office building. The engine was the
first of five Hunnemans purchased by the town of Marblehead. The Gerry was retired from
active fire service in 1890. It was housed in various buildings in the town and
occasionally participated in firemen's musters. At one muster, the crew was a group of
schoolboys led by their teacher.
The Gerry was restored in 1949 by a group of men belonging to a social club called the
Market Square Associates. This group took the Gerry to musters from 1950 to 1953. In
December, 1953, after the Market Square Associates decided to give up musters, a group of
ten men from the club formed the Gerry 5 Veteran Firemen's Association to pump the Gerry
at musters. The organization thrived, and the Gerry continues to be an active competitor
in musters. Today, the organization has more than 1000 members, has been recognized for
community service by the town of Marblehead, and provides excellent financial support for
the engine. The Gerry 5 was the Class B league champion in 1951, 1955, 1956, and 1958. The
record stream for the engine is 243' 4 1/2". The stream was played at a playoff
between the Gerry and the Atlantic of Swampscott for the Ephraim Taylor Trophy in
Marblehead in 1981.
Handtub Junction, USA would like to thank Robin Symonds of
Kokomo, IN for submitting the above history of the Gerry No.5. He is a member of the
Gerry No. 5 and the Oko's VFA of Marblehead and has been a long time muster fan and judge.
If anyone as anything that they would like to add or has any photo's of the Gerry No.5 they would like to see added, please email me or mail it to:
Handtub Junction, USA, PO Box 359, Southborough, MA 01772
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